Journey through the Knight
by Riptide2
Summary: Former employees of the SSC are dying across the country. They're being hunted. They just don't know it yet. Because the Knight Industries Three Thousand was never the first. 2008 series set after Knight to King's Pawn but with characters of the original series.
1. Chapter 1

Knight Rider

 _Journey through the Knight_

Mike jumps awake in the dark, pulse pounding frighteningly loud in his ears as he thrashes against the sheets tangled around his legs. Terror floods, sharp and bright, through his veins as caustic as poison and just as deadly because he'll always be a soldier at heart and nothing gets you killed quite as quickly as losing your nerve. He feels panic mix with adrenaline in his gut, a flash of fire under his skin as devastating as a missile hit because his memory is still far less than stellar, three years of his life reduced to a handful of disjointed, painful flashes.

He remembers desert sand and screams carried on dry, dusty air, tastes blood, hot and coppery on his tongue, and hears the phantom whine of high powered machine guns. The cotton sheets wrapped tight around his knees morph into hands on his shoulders holding him down and there's a syringe glinting in the uneven light of a burning hanger and just for a moment he can't breathe because he might have a three year gap in his memory but he _knows_ what's coming next.

He fights, curses, manages to get an arm free long enough to back hand one of the soldiers holding him down hard across the face, but there's half a dozen of them and he realizes distantly that he's dazed already and his limbs are sluggish and slow to respond. They pin him again, quickly and far too easily, and he can't move, _can't breathe,_ as the syringe dips closer and the contents burn through his veins like wildfire.

" _Michael?"_ It's KITT's voice, alarmed and sharp as he pipes it through the speakers in the pod room that Mike's claimed as his own and he startles, painfully because he's tumbled off the room's narrow bed and onto the floor in an un-gangly heap. "Michael, is everything alright?"

The lights come on then, painfully bright and his eyes burn at the sudden harshness and he's gasping for air, trying to get his lungs to work in some facsimile of normalcy. The adrenaline is still rushing, twisting his insides and Mike flails hard against the sheets that are tangled around his legs, holding him in place, before he forces himself to breathe deep for a moment and just not panic.

"Michael?" KITT asks again, the AI's voice is tight with worry in a way Mike never thought a computer possible of, except his partner is so much more than that, so much more human than half the flesh and blood people that he deals with on a daily basis. "Hold on. I am calling Sarah for assistance."

" _No,"_ he croaks, half surprised he's managed to find his voice at all but holding firm in a tone that he knows KITT will listen to because he doesn't need anyone else seeing him like this, especially not Sarah. It's bad enough that the AI monitors his vital signs every minute of every day, the last thing he wants is Billy or Zoe or his former fiancé knowing about the nightmares or repressed memories or whatever the hell this is.

"No," Mike repeats once he's gotten a better hold on his voice and breathing. He still sounds terrible and he knows that KITT can hear it in his voice, but it's the best he can do at the moment. "I'm okay, KITT."

"Your heartrate and adrenaline levels spiked drastically," KITT responds in a tone that bleeds disbelief. It's clear that the AI doesn't believe him, but Sarah hasn't come pounding on his door yet so at least KITT hasn't ratted him out, "Perhaps your definition of 'okay' requires revision."

"Oh, snap," Mike chuckles, scooting backwards to prop his shoulders against the side of the pod room bed. His breathing and heartrate have relatively returned to normal and Mike raises a hand in front of his face, watching as it shakes with pent up adrenaline and the aftereffects of his nightmare. He's getting good at this, Mike thinks distantly, because these flashes of memory have become common place since Charles Graiman's death. This is the first time it's dropped him kicking and screaming out of bed though, and he wonders if he shouldn't be worried about the fact that apparently it's getting worse instead of better.

"I swear I'm fine now, KITT." He explains when the silence stretches for several seconds. He could have disconnected from the audio feed by now, but Mike knows him better than that, the same way he knows that the Mustang keeps at least one scanner tuned on him constantly. He supposes he should be more annoyed at the invasion of privacy, but that attentiveness has gotten them out of more than one tight spot in the past and he can't bring himself to protest KITT's concern. "It was just a nightmare, pal."

"I understand, Michael," KITT answers slowly before he lapses into silence again and Mike smiles because they've managed to become partners despite being so vastly different and he knows with a certainty that's oddly comforting that KITT can watch his back and keep his secrets, even the ones he can't remember having.

There's something else though, Mike can hear it in the AI's projected voice as easily as he can read Sarah's mood in her eyes and the set of her shoulders. He tips his head back against the bed to stare at the surveillance camera in the back left corner of the room that's pivoted to watch him, the red light on top blinking in a pattern that's oddly reminiscent of KITT's scanner and Mike rolls his eyes at the video feed that he's sure the Mustang has tapped into, "What is it?"

There's a momentary burst of static that on anyone else Mike suspects would be a sigh before KITT admits, "There is a situation that requires our attention."

"Of course there is," Mike murmurs into his palms as he scrubs a hand down his face in exasperation because KITT's already woken him up twice this week with a hostage situation and an armored truck robbery. "What time is it?"

"5:14 a.m." KITT responds immediately, sounding far too chipper for it being an unholy hour of the morning, "Michael?"

"Hold your horses, supercar," Mike huffs, hauling himself to his feet and narrowly resisting the urge to wave a middle finger salute at the camera that his partner's commandeered. "I'm coming."

"There were never any equines involved, Michael," the AI snips back and Mike stops moving long enough to throw a slanted eyed look at the surveillance camera that's slowly swivelling back to its original position because it's entirely too early in the morning to get sassed by a Mustang.

Fourteen minutes later Mike staggers down the stairs to the main floor of the SSC's operational room and drags his fingers through his still wet hair. He weaves between the sofa and Billy and Zoe's workstations in front of the big screen to the ridiculously complicated, WiFi enabled coffeemaker that sits beside Zoe's keyboard, and discovers that there's half a pot already waiting. He shakes his head silently and grins when Lisa clicks and warbles before pushing a travel mug into his hands, either KITT's taken to hacking the coffee pot or he's bullied the other two into doing it for him, because the Mustang definitely isn't above pulling rank when it comes to things that require thumbs.

Mike pats Lisa on her hydraulic arm, pours liquid caffeine into his mug, and swivels on his heel to glare at the most advanced artificial intelligence in the world, "So what's so important that it can't wait until a decent hour?"

"Good Morning to you too, Michael." KITT huffs, the teasing edge in his tone only enhanced by his usual computerized aloofness and Mike grins despite himself as the Mustang's door pops open under his waiting hand.

"Morning, KITT," he singsongs as he slides into the driver's seat, his coffee held carefully in one hand to stop it from spilling, and glances over at the blue globe of KITT's voice modulator, "Happy, now?"

"Very."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It's sometime just after seven a.m. when Sarah stumbles, bleary eyed out of her pod room to find a note taped haphazardly to the outside of her door.

" **Sarah,"** it reads in Mike's slanted, neat scrawl, **"Been kidnaped by a Mustang. Help. MK."**

Sarah grins, folding the note into quarters and tucking it into the pocket of her sweats before rolling her eyes at the pair of them because Mike and KITT have been spending entirely too much time together recently. But, she reminds herself, they're good for each other and somewhere along the way they've become far closer than just partners.

Then she swings the door to her pod room closed and heads for the showers.

…

Twenty minutes later, Sarah heads downstairs to the main floor of their operational room to find that Billy and Zoe have already arrived for the day.

"Morning," she calls to the two techs, before raising the coffee thermos in her hands in an attempt to chase away the lingering morning fog. There's something about waking up underground in the SSC's former compound that seems to mess with her internal clock, but it'd been too late and she'd been too tired to drive home the night before. "What's the word of the day?"

"Not sure yet," Billy murmurs, sliding into his work station with the clack of keys and chair wheels. "Looks like KITT found us a case."

"Sorry Hun," Zoe greets, sliding up beside Sarah far too quietly for someone in platform heels that high. But Zoe's been the exception to just about everything for as long as Sarah's known her and she's come to rely on the other woman's wit and feisty strength. "We just got here. What time did KITT and Mike leave?"

"Five thirty," Mike reports, his video call appearing on the big screen just as Zoe steps away to take her seat. He looks sleep deprived and peevish and Sarah hides a smile behind her thermos wondering what KITT did to push his buttons this time. " _In the morning."_

" _Michael,"_ KITT chides, and Sarah rolls her eyes at the quiet little thread of amusement in the AI's voice. He's enjoying this, Sarah thinks to herself, and on second thought they've been spending _far_ too much time together. "I did offer to drive."

Mike grumbles something unintelligible under his breath that has Billy hiding a grin and KITT blithely ignores as his tone slips back into computerized aloofness. "Transmitting data now."

"I read you, KITT." Zoe says, reaching out to run lightning quick fingers over the keyboard of her laptop. "Receiving data."

Sarah nods to herself, trusting in the fact that Billy and Zoe are the best there is at what they do and they don't need her looking over their shoulders right at the moment. She steps aside, patting Lisa on the arm and sharing a fist bump with Katie on either side of KITT's empty gimbal just as Billy makes a quiet little noise of surprise in the back of his throat. "KITT, there's not a lot here."

"No, there is not," the AI's voice continues, his tone smooth and business like once again, even as Mike shifts to sit up straighter in his seat. KITT moves instinctually, activating his interactive HUD and displaying the same files there before his partner can ask. Mike grins, watching the data flicker by with half his attention still on the road. "However, Sarah, the word of the day would appear to be murder."

"Murder?" She repeats, surprise sharpening her voice and focus because they get kidnappings and robberies and hostage situations every other week but murder cases are still relatively few and far between at their level.

Mike shifts again, reaching out to flip back to what looks like police reports of a car accident on KITT's touch screen. _Accidental Death._ Mike reads and flips back a handful of times again to another police report and reads the same thing again. He looks away long enough to steer them around a curve because KITT might be the most advanced AI in the world, but Mike still enjoys doing the driving more often than not.

"KITT," he murmurs once the road straightens out ahead of them again. "I thought you said this was murder. These are listed as accidents."

"They are," KITT agrees and Mike watches as the HUD rearranges itself to show six matching police reports, complete with crime scene photos and witness statements. "However I believe there to be suspicious circumstances involved."

"Explain, KITT." Sarah orders, pulling out her own seat to join Billy and Zoe in front of the big screen.

"Lindsey Mackenzie was the first victim. May 3rd Ms. Mackenzie was struck and killed in an apparent 'hit and run'. Witnesses claim to have seen an unidentified black vehicle fleeing the scene. May 14th Tessa Scott was killed after she lost control of her car and went down a steep embankment. Mechanical failure was ruled out and weather conditions were reported as favourable. Again witnesses report a dark coloured vehicle fleeing the scene at high speed."

KITT shifts momentarily, minimizing the files on Mackenzie and Scott to highlight the next two files on the HUD for Michael and the SSC's screens for those still back at their base.

"May 24th James Moore was severely injured after running in front of a streetcar. Witnesses say Mr. Moore was afraid something was 'after him'. He died in hospital three hours later. Surrounding traffic cameras recorded a dark coloured vehicle leaving the area, however they were of too poor a quality for positive identification." KITT continues, shifting past James Moore's photo and case file to enlarge the next, "Riley Taylor was killed eight days later, June 1st, after losing control of his SUV on a deserted road. Once again weather conditions were favourable and-"

"Ok, KITT," Mike interrupts, lifting the hand not occupied with the Mustang's steering wheel to wave off the rest of his partner's explanation. "I think I get the picture, but these could still be unconnected even if they are suspicious."

"Yeah KITT," Billy chimes in, sounding just as leery as Sarah feels. "People get in traffic accidents all the time."

"It doesn't mean they're connected," Zoe says her voice gentle and easy as she shares a glance with Sarah across the computer screens.

Mike eyes the blue globe of KITT's voice modulator on the dash, feeding the niggling suspicion in the back of his mind because he knows his partner better than that and KITT never would have dragged him out of bed at an unholy hour of the morning unless he was sure, "What else did you find?"

Mike watches KITT's red 'eye' blink once in something he thinks is surprise and grins to himself before the Mustang continues, "All six victims so far were formerly employed by Knight Research and Development."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Mike looks up and out of KITT's window, studying the office building they've pulled up in front of as the Mustang shifts into park and shuts down the engine.

There's something niggling at the back of his mind, suspicion and déjà vu because he can't get over the feeling that he's seen this before. It feels like the same flash of repressed memory or nightmare or whatever it was that had dropped him kicking and screaming out of bed that morning, but he can't quite put his finger on it. There's something wrong with this in a way that twists his gut and not for the first time he wishes long and hard that he knew what happened during the three year gap in his memory.

"Michael," KITT asks, voice curious and just a touch leery and he knows without having to ask that the AI's monitoring his vitals again. "Is everything alright? You appear distracted."

"I'm fine," Mike says, the response automatic and off his tongue before he really even registers it. It's been the only option he's given himself for years and it's only really when KITT's HUD flashes that he realizes that he really does have another option now.

"Michael?" KITT prompts and Mike shakes his head, glancing again at the **Communications Disabled** message that's flashing across KITT's HUD. The SSC or FLAG or whatever it is that they're going by now can't hear them and Mike feels himself relax because KITT's been the only one he's told about the flashbacks and he doesn't need anyone else finding out about this, especially not Sarah or Billy and Zoe.

"I have a bad feeling about this, KITT." Mike admits and then stops because he doesn't know what else to say. He isn't sure he can explain a gut feeling to someone who's still largely computer based no matter how advanced KITT's AI is.

"A hunch, Michael?" KITT asks. He sounds assured of his guess but still confused about its meaning and Mike smiles to himself because the KITT he met nearly a year ago would have disregarded a hunch as unreliable and kept going. He's learning, far more than anyone expect maybe Charles Graiman thought he could and the ex-Ranger feels a rush of pride at his partner's abilities.

"Sort of," Mike murmurs, reaching up to scrub his fingers through his hair in frustration because he'd give just about anything to remember just what he's done in Iraq and then with KARR. If wishes were horses, he thinks and then shakes the thought away because he hasn't thought about that or his mom in a very long time. "It feels like déjà vu, KITT. Like I should know something but I – I can't remember. God, KITT, why can't I _remember?"_

It a rhetorical question, asked purely out of frustration and one he'd never expect his partner to know the answer to and Mike feels bad the instant KITT falls silent. He glances away and out of the Mustang's window again, studying the building their parked in front of for a long moment before looking back at the dash because he hadn't meant to snap and especially not at KITT because the AI's the only one who actually knows.

"I don't know why you can't remember, Michael." KITT's simulated voice is quiet, but heavy with inflection in a way that settles down in Mike's gut with the weight of promise. It's something he's never heard from KITT before and he straightens reflexively, hands reaching out to ghost over the Mustang's steering wheel. "You told me after Alex Torres deactivated me that you would help me remember. To use the colloquial, Michael, right back atcha, partner."

Mike swallows thickly, not sure what to say, what he _can_ say because of the handful of people who know about his past KITT's the only one who's promised to _help._ He remembers Sarah in the pod room months ago, suspicious and angry ' _you can't remember or you don't_ _ **want**_ _to remember'._ He remembers a syringe whose contents burn like acid and KARR standing in the waning light of a burning hanger. He blinks through the memories and smiles, grateful, at the blue globe of KITT's voice modulator, "Thanks, partner."

Then he reaches for the door handle and levers himself out of the Mustang's driver's seat because they've got a job to do and half a dozen dead former colleagues that raise all kinds of sticky questions. "What am I looking at, KITT?"

"A branch office of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc." the AI explains, his tone slipping back into computerized aloofness with an ease that Michael envies. "They specialize in data and storage networking products such as new IP and Third platform technologies."

"And the last victim worked here?" Mike asks, reaching up to check and make sure his earwig is in place and his switchblade is in his pocket as he leans against the Mustang's door.

"Correct," KITT continues, through his earwig now because the last thing they need right now is someone noticing the talking car. "Richard Burns, a software engineer, who was formerly employed by Knight Research and Development. He was killed eight days ago in what appears to be a single vehicle crash."

"But you don't agree." Mike concludes because he knows KITT better than that and there was far too much scepticism in that last sentence.

"There appear to be inconsistent details between the State Police's incident report and forensic evidence found at the scene. However, I would have to examine the area myself to be certain."

"Sounds like a good field trip." Mike murmurs, staring up into the bright Phoenix sun for a moment before he straightens. "I'm assuming this place has a back door?"

"Southwest corner of the building, Michael," KITT answers immediately.

"Security cameras?" Mike asks, already moving in that direction because he doesn't doubt KITT's intel for a moment.

"I am attempting to access their system now," the Mustang sounds down right smug and Mike grins as he watches the camera on the nearest corner of the building swivel up and away.

"Sounds like it's my turn then."

Seven minutes later, Mike steps out of the emergency stairwell on the fifth floor grinning because this place has all the security of his seventh grade military academy, and he could have broken in with one hand tied behind his back. "Richard Burns' office is the third door on your left," KITT reports from his ear and Mike nods even though he knows the Mustang can't tell.

"Copy that." It's just after twelve thirty and a cautious glance reveals that the surrounding offices are all empty as Mike reaches with a gloved hand for the lock picks in his back pocket. A handful of seconds later and – "I'm in."

"Once you start the mirroring program I should be able to copy Mr. Burns' files, Michael." KITT reminds and Mike rolls his eyes to himself at the nagging because the AI definitely didn't get that from him.

"Hold on, supercar," he crosses the six steps to stand behind Burns' desk and opens the lid of his laptop with careful fingers before plugging in a jump drive that comes out of his front pocket. CTRL + R and the program executes itself before the home screen can finish loading, "Program's running, partner."

"Copying files."

Mike shifts his attention away from the computer screen and the data that flashes by faster than the human eye can follow and runs a scrutinizing eye around the room. There's a certain amount of organization to the space, diploma's arranged on the wall in order of date and achievement from what he can tell and four little cubbies across the head of Burns' desk each separated for pens, pencils, paper clips, and thumb tacks.

He tips his head in confusion, reaching out to straighten a stack of papers threatening to tip off the desk corner. He tugs open two of the three desk drawers, finding stacks of files dumped haphazardly and an overturned tub of ball point pens in the bottom drawer on the left. There's a filing cabinet on the wall to his left and the top drawer sits ajar, the baseball trophy on top at an awkward angle, and none of it tracks with someone OCD enough to organize the diplomas on their wall by date.

"Michael," KITT's voice is urgent and piqued in his ear and Mike's moving even before the AI can continue. "Someone is approaching from the west. You need to leave immediately."

"Is the download done?" Mike's moving around the room erasing any trace that he was here. He nudges the papers over that he'd straightened, fixes the window blinds that he'd mused, shoves in the desk drawers, and replaces Burns' office chair.

"Eleven percent remaining." KITT answers just as he reaches for the laptop, "You will be discovered before the download is complete."

"Damn," Mike breathes because if he leaves now then they'll have to wait until tonight to finish copying Burns' files and they have no idea if they have that kind of time before their perp kills again.

"There is no other exit, Michael." KITT warns, voice sharp in his ear and slipping back into the computerized exactness that Mike's grown accustomed to whenever they're threatened. "You have seven seconds."

He hunkers down beside Burns' desk, reaching out to shut the laptop because KITT can keep the download going either way and then tilts his head at the holstered form of a Beretta 92 under the desktop. Burns was a software engineer, why the hell did he have a gun hidden under his desk?

"Michael?" KITT prompts, "Five seconds."

 _Five_. And he lurches up from behind Burns' desk, steadying the chair without a thought, and the dead man's gun in hand.

 _Four._ Mike crosses the room, flicking off the light and then reaching out to re-lock the door.

 _Three._ And he casts a careful eye around the room because the devil's always in the details but they've trained him well and Mike knows exactly how good he is with a certainty that's more than simple pride.

 _Two._ He crosses the room to press his back against the wall beside the filing cabinet and checks the chamber of the Beretta to find a round already waiting. That raises even more questions about Richard Burns and what exactly he'd known and Mike releases the slide with a cocked eyebrow of surprise.

 _One._ He breathes in silently and holds it, waiting because he may not remember but on some level he knows the kinds of things he's done before and he's deathly calm now because this is a walk in the park.

Footsteps sound in the hallway, light and unhurried at the same time a shadow slides across the frosted glass door and Mike waits as they continue past and then pause further down the hall. He strains his senses, imagines he hears the thud of a door, and exhales before stepping away from the wall. He presses a hand to his ear and breathes, "KITT?"

"They appear to have entered an office two doors down on the opposite side of the hall," the AI responds. He sounds relieved, the sharp exactness bleeding out of his tone and into something more relaxed in a way that Mike doubts anyone else would notice and he grins as he moves back to Burns' desk.

"Piece of cake," he tucks the Beretta into the waistband of his jeans and then tugs his shirt down to cover it at the small of his back. "Please tell me you finished that download?"

"Of course."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

A handful of minutes later, Mike smiles as KITT's door pops open under his waiting hand, and he slides easily into the driver's seat. KITT's interior is cool, the air conditioning running to combat the Arizona heat, because even for the Southwest in late June it's a scorcher out. One of the perks of the job, he thinks, is never having to get into a hot car, because KITT's environmental controls are seamless, and the AI keeps the cab temp at a comfortable eighty-two for his benefit.

"That was fun. Find anything on Richard Burns?" Mike asks, watching the data flicker by on the inside of the Mustang's windshield at speeds no human could hope to follow.

"My analysis is in no way complete, Michael," the AI's voice responds a moment later, as Mike watches the speed of the downloaded files slow slightly, as KITT splits his focus. "However, I have found nothing important, yet."

"Can you get me Billy and Zoe?" Mike requests, as he replaces the thumb drive for KITT's mirroring app on the tray that slides out of the Mustang's glove compartment.

Three hundred miles away, Billy looks up as the video call from KITT opens on the big screen back at the SSC's former HQ. He meets Mike's gaze with a one-handed wave, and watches as KITT takes over his laptop to download a series of files that the supercar's titled 'Richard Burns Hard Drive'. "Hey guys, how's it coming?"

"Fine," Mike murmurs, he sounds distracted and Billy frowns because that isn't like the operative. The other man's usually the picture of focus while they're working on a case, and Billy's always kind of wondered if that's how he works so well with an AI as a partner. "Anything come up on your end?"

"I have requests in with all the local police departments for copies of incident reports and forensics in all six cases, and Zoe's looking into witness statements and local news and blog accounts." Billy gestures with one hand to gather the photos and videos he's collected, and throws them up on the big screen. Back in Phoenix, KITT moves at the same time, reaching for his HUD to display the same information for Mike.

"We can confirm an unidentified vehicle at the scene of four out of the six fatalities," Billy reaches up to scrub a hand over his eyes, because he's spent the last four hours watching various traffic footage and his eyes are starting to burn. "Except the last two, Jessica Turner and Richard Burns."

"I need you to dig deeper on Burns, Billy." Mike shifts in his seat, reaching for the Beretta he'd tucked into his waistband earlier and balances it on his thigh. "He's the only software engineer I've seen with a gun in his desk."

"You think he knew something was wrong?" Billy asks, surprise in his voice and expression because they haven't even been able to confirm a common thread beyond the shared connection to Knight Industries.

"I think that that's a lot of firepower for a software engineer at a networking company," Mike reaches over to place the Beretta 92 on the tray KITT's rolled out of his glove box, because the very last thing they need right now is to be spotted by a cop, before looking back at Billy. "Keep looking. We need to end this before anyone else dies."

"You got it."

Billy shuts down the chat line, and three hundred miles away, Mike taps his fingers rapid fire along the Mustang's steering wheel in a way he knows annoys KITT to no end. The AI doesn't comment though and after a moment he slows, dropping his gaze to the dash because he knows his partner better than that, and KITT's been careful ever since the AI woke him up at an unholy hour. "We're missing something, KITT."

"Perhaps the contents of Mr. Burns' hard drive will tell us why he was targeted." KITT suggests, he doesn't sound particularly sure though, but Mike nods along anyway. They need a break on this and there's not much else to go on right now.

"Maybe," Mike thinks about the holstered Beretta under Richard Burns' desk, and the obsessive compulsive organization of his office buried beneath a layer of hasty tidying. Something doesn't track, and it tingles along his instincts with the touch of a memory just out of reach. "KITT, are you still taped into the building surveillance?"

"Yes, Michael." The HUD splits again, shrinking the downloaded hard drive and the video feeds from Billy's research back at the SSC, to make room for a split screen filled with security monitors. It's not a lot, and Mike isn't really surprised because the place has all the security measures of a summer camp, but it's unhelpful to his purposes now.

"Is there any footage of Burns' office?" He knows what he's looking for now, because he might not really remember it, but he was one of the government's best and they'd trained him well enough to recognize a searched room when he sees one. "Maybe within twenty-four hours of his death?"

"Michael?" KITT questions, his projected voice rife with curiosity, and Mike reminds himself that for all the information KITT has access to and all the things they've seen, the AI is still a whole lot newer at this than he is.

"I don't think I was the first person to search that office. Someone beat us here." He taps his fingers against his thigh, idle curiosity, and something that's still bothering him about a software engineer with a gun in their desk, and smiles as KITT seems to ponder his explanation.

The security monitors displayed across KITT's HUD shift, zooming in on a single feed and Mike sits up a little bit straighter in interest as the video starts to roll. "This is footage from the fifth floor elevator bank, sixteen hours after Burns' approximate time of death. Pay attention to the dark haired man exiting now."

"Ok," Mike murmurs, watching the footage rewind again and the man exit the closer elevator and turn to the right. He's fair height and well built, muscled like a boxer or a cage fighter, and he seems to be careful to avoid looking directly at the camera. "Why him, partner?"

KITT pulls in closer on their mystery man, cleaning up the photo as much as he can for a look at his face. "He was the only one to move in the direction of Burns' office who is not a current employee of Brocade Communication Systems, Inc."

The Mustang's projected voice is threaded through with just the tiniest bit of pride at his findings, and Mike nods, enjoying teasing him, "And? Who is he?"

His earwig crackles, a burst of static that on anyone else Mike suspects would be a noise of frustration, and he grins as the AI admits, "I don't know. He is not in any government data base that I have access to."

Mike cocks a curious eyebrow at that, hearing the loophole in his partner's words loud and clear, "What about the ones you don't have access to?"

KITT doesn't respond right away and the silence stretches for several seconds, before: "You suspect he works for a clandestine branch of the government?"

"Torres wasn't the only one behind the KARR Project, KITT." Mike closes his eyes for a long moment, pushing hard to just _remember,_ before he shakes his head and the thought away, because he's tried that a thousand times and whatever they did to make him forget, they did a good job of it. "Let's just say I'm not ruling anything out for now."

"I understand, Michael." KITT says after a moment, because he's not the only one who's had part of their memories stolen, and if anyone really does understand, it's KITT. They've seen a lot together, done a lot, and Mike thinks that KITT might just be the closest thing he's had to a best friend in a very long time, since before Iraq and KARR at the very least.

He smiles again to himself, reaching out to ghost one hand over the Mustang's steering wheel, "Now, didn't you say something about a date with a crime scene?"


End file.
